


The Boy Who Runs With Dragons

by Sahreah



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Dragons are being hunted, I might add tags, I suck at tags, I'm going to add character tags when they appear :), I'm not sure about warnings yet..., M/M, Mostly human though, Toothless is a dragon and a human
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-15 03:48:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2214651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sahreah/pseuds/Sahreah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragons are dangerous. They kill you if they have the oportunity to do so. That's why they have to be hunted... controlled. At least that's what Jack's uncle told him his whole life. So why is Hiccup showing him a whole new world where dragons are just as good as the next guy?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Toothless was running as fast as he could. Hiccup sat on his back, his body pressed against Toothless’ body as arrows flew through the air. One arrow had already pierced through the dragon’s tailfin, making it impossible for him to fly away. The human’s breath was heavy and Toothless could practically smell the fear rolling of in waves from the small boy. They had come close to hunters before but never to the point where the hunters would have noticed them and hunt the two. They had freed a terrible terror from a trap when the hunters started shooting at the two.

Another arrow shot through the sky and Toothless let out a painful growl when it hit his shoulder barely a few inches from Hiccup’s hand. Hiccup squealed when Toothless suddenly stopped and he was thrown of his back.

“Toothless?” Hiccup asked worried. He quickly got on his feet and ran to his best friend. “Are you okay?” The boy grabbed the arrow with both hands and pulled it out only to see that the tip of it was soaked with eel-poison. Hiccup cursed. Eel-Poison has the ability to bring dragons back to their human form. Toothless soon was changing back into his human self. Hiccup grabbed his rucksack and opened it to pull out a pair of pants and a t-shirt for his friend. Toothless grunted as he changed because of his hurting shoulder but they had to hurry and get away. Hiccup supported him as good as he could but this was rather difficult because Toothless was taller than Hiccup.

“Go,” Toothless grunted and tried to get out of Hiccup’s grip “I’m only slowing you down!”

Hiccup refused to leave his friend behind and rushed forward without feeling the need to respond to his best friend. He could hear the cry of the hunters behind them. He was running as fast as his feet could carry him. He was running without looking where he was going and so it happened that the situation got even worse. He heard the snap of the trap as it closed around his left leg and his scream could be heard from far away. Toothless fell down next to him. He looked at the human, terror on his face. “H-Hiccup,” he mumbled and tried to open the trap. Tears were running down their faces and now it was Hiccup’s turn to mumble, “G-Go.” But just as Hiccup had done, so did Toothless. He wasn’t going anywhere without his best friend. Hiccup sobbed into Toothless’ shoulder while the dragon still tried to free his friend of the trap. The arrow rain stopped and so did the footsteps. The hunters had reached their pray.

“A boy and his dragon,” one of the hunters said and it was the last thing either of them could remember.

 

* * *

 

“Jackson?”

The boy looked up from his math homework which was making no sense at all. Like always. His uncle Pitch stood in the doorframe, his face showing no feeling like it did often. “Hm?” he asked.

“How is it going with your homework?” his uncle asked. Jack had lived with his uncle since he was a small kid. His parents had died in a car crash and Pitch had been the only one capable of taking him and his half-brother, Aster, in.

“Oh good,” Jack lied “It’s going good. So much fun.”

There was a short silence but Pitch nodded then. “Alright,” he said “It’s your birthday tomorrow.”

“I know that…,” Jack answered shortly. His relationship to Pitch was not the best but they were okay. Pitch only had a very different style of living than Jack. Everything about Pitch was serious and boring. Jack simply wished that Pitch wouldn’t pay so much attention on Jack’s grades and his friends and what he did in his freetime.

“I invited a few people over… so that we can celebrate a little bit,” Pitch explained “And maybe after that we could talk about your first hunt. You’re going to be 18 after all. You’re going to love it.”

“Oh…,” Jack simply answered. He had known for a long time that Pitch wanted him to become a hunter. Just like he had wanted Aster to be one. “Okay…”

“I’ll sent Stormfly up with something to eat,” Pitch turned around and left the room, leaving Jack with his homework and his thoughts. He knew that it was bound to happen that he would end up being a hunter. Pitch was one of the most well-known hunters of that century. He made his living with hunting dragons down, creating traps and selling dragons on the market. He even kept a few in his house. His business made him rich and allowed Jack and Aster a good education at a private school (with silly uniforms and everything) and they lived in a huge mansion. Jack didn’t want to complain. Pitch could fulfil his every wish. He always had the newest video games, consoles, movies… Jack only saw himself in a whole different light than Pitch did. He knew that dragons were dangerous and that they needed to stay under the control of humans but he didn’t want to hunt them. He wanted to do something with children and something that actually sounded like _fun_. He sighed slightly when there was a knock on his door and one of Pitch’s dragon servants hushed inside. All of the dragons had to be kept in their human form which was allowed by something called eel-poison even though Pitch referred to it as medicine. The dragon, her name was Stormfly carried a tray with sandwiches and set it down on Jack’s desk.

“Would that be all?” she asked quietly. Pitch had trained them well, letting them know that they better behaved well. Even though his uncle always told him how dangerous dragons were, he made sure that they could be around his family without them feeling uncomfortable. “I’m good,” Jack said and smiled slightly. Stormfly nodded and straightened her brown tunic. All of the dragons in Pitch’s mansion wore the same short brown tunic and a beige apron where they could store small things. They also wore a dark brown leather collar which could send electric waves through their bodies if one of them ever thought about attacking Jack or anyone else.

“Call for me, Master Jackson if you need anything,” Stormfly said and left the room.

Jack nodded to himself, grabbed a sandwich and got back to his math homework.

 

* * *

 

The next day turned out to be amazing. Jack’s friends at his school had made him a cake which they ate together at lunchtime. He also had got a bunch of presents from them and now he couldn’t wait to get home to see what Pitch and Bunny had prepared for him. He had already loosened the tie of his school-uniform when he entered the house and got rid of his jacket a moment later. It was really quiet in the house but it always was. The white haired teenager shrugged off his shoes and went into the living room where he was greeted with a shot of confetti to his face. He let out a surprised squeal. His brother grinned and ruffled his hair while wishing him a happy birthday. A moment later he pushed a present in Jack’s hand. Jack thanked him and opened it as quickly as a little child would have. The wrapping paper flew everywhere. Soon a box was revealed and inside Jack found a small golden box. It had a pretty pattern on top with green and blue diamond shaped stones. On the side was his picture before he had dyed his hair white. He stroked over the top, wondering what it was when he realized that the middle stone was a little loose. He pushed it and the top of the box opened and revealed a small dagger. It was probably a hunter thing but Jack still thought that it was pretty cool.

“Thanks,” Jack said, looking at his half-brother.

“Don’t mention it,” Aster replied and then moved away to make space for Pitch. The tall man walked straight to Jack and laid one hand down on his shoulder. Jack looked up at him, waiting for what he had to tell him.

“You’re a man now,” Pitch started “You’re first hunt is coming closer as we speak but this is for a different day.”

His uncle smiled and took a step back “But I still thought that you should have some experience with dragons.”

Pitch looked at the door and called :”Bring them in,” before turning to Jack “Happy birthday Jackson.”

One of Pitch’s dragon servants, Hookfang, brought in two new people. He pulled them in using leashes that where attached to their brown collars. One of them was a tanned boy that was maybe a few years older than Jack. He had silky black hair that reached his shoulders. Like all the dragons, he was wearing a brown tunic and no shoes. He stood protectively in front of his friend but Jack could still see him. The first thing he noticed was the slavemark on his head. It was a thin dragon which was shaped like an ‘S’, that stood on his temple for everyone to see. His auburn hair was covering it a little though. The slavemark was only put on the foreheads of those humans that worked with dragons. Pitch had told him that they were even worse than dragons because they weren’t some dumb animal like dragons but they were human beings. The second thing the white haired teenager saw was the prosthesis that replaced half of his left leg. He was limping a little when Hookfang pulled at his leash but he didn’t fall down. He was a few heads smaller than the other boy. He was lanky and was pulling at the ends of his brown tunic when they stopped. The tunic was a little too big for him because they were made for dragons which were taller and wider than he was. Because of this it fell down on one side and revealed a freckled shoulder that matched his equally freckled face.

Jack swallowed and looked away. Was Pitch being real? Was he giving him a dragon and a slave for his birthday?

“Do you like them Jackson?” Pitch asked and walked over to Hookfang. “Go help Meatlug.”

Hookfang nodded and hushed away to help Meatlug in the kitchen. Bunny made some excuse about having somewhere to be and left Jack with Pitch and his gift. The dragon hissed a little bit as Pitch came closer.

“Don’t even think about fighting me,” Pitch said and pulled out a little remote out of his pocket. He pushed one of the two buttons on it. Toothless immediately fell on his knees, screaming in pain. Jack flinched when he saw that. The boy was on the dragons side and begged Pitch to stop. Pitch smiled evilly but released the button. “This happens if you think about fighting me.”

The boy helped the dragon on his feet. He helped him stay on his feet even though it looked as if it hurt the boy to put his weigh on his artificial leg. Pitch pulled on the dragons leash and brought him closer to Jack.

“This is your Master,” Pitch said to the dragon “You are at his mercy. Do you understand?”

The dragon took his time to answer but eventually he hissed: “Yes.”

“They are all yours, Jackson,” Pitch turned to his nephew “You don’t have to call for my servants anymore. They belong to you and you can do with them whatever you please.” Pitch grabbed Jack’s hand and laid the remote in it. Jack was still dazzled and didn’t know how to react.

“The first button, the blue one, is for the dragon. The green one is for the boy.” Jack shuddered at the thought of electrocuting a human. The boy had to be around his age, maybe even younger and he didn’t look as if he could stand to have electricity run through his body. Dragons healed really fast but humans? Not so much.

“I- eh,” he tried to tell Pitch that it wasn’t necessary at all but he couldn’t form a word.

“They’re not tame,” Pitch explained and grabbed the boy’s leash and pulled him forward harshly. “You’re going to watch them very closely and they can’t sleep with the other dragons yet. They’ll have to stay in your room until they can behave themselves. You may take them upstairs and explain to them how everything works or whatever you please. The dragon has been injected with the medicine a few hours ago. Give it to him every 48 hours and he won’t change back. I’ll be in my study if you need my help.”

Jack nodded uncertainly and let Pitch put the leashes into his free hand. “Let’s go upstairs,” he said the dragon and the boy and pulled on the leash softly to get them to come with him.

 

* * *

 

It was more than a little awkward in Jack’s opinion. He was seated on his bed while the dragon and the boy were standing in front of it.

“I’m Jackson,” Jack introduced himself “But I go by Jack.”

The dragon looked at him, obviously unimpressed by the white haired boy. He didn’t state his name and neither did the boy who stayed in the shadow of the dragon. They seemed to be rather close. Jack would have never gone close to a wild dragon but since his uncle wanted him to be a dragon hunter, he didn’t have much of a choice left.

“You have names do you?” Jack tried and looked at the odd pair. Neither off them talked and Jack grew frustrated. If he didn’t get them to behave then Pitch would do it and his methods and punishments were not known to be soft.

“Listen,” Jack sighed “If I don’t get anywhere with you then my uncle will tame you. He is not very merciful.”

“We don’t need to be tamed,” the dragon hissed. He took a step forward but the boy laid his hand down on his arm. Maybe he feared that Jack would push the button on the remote.

“I’m Hiccup,” the boy said “and this is my best friend, Toothless.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

They had been staring at each other awkwardly for a few minutes now. Jack didn’t know what could make this situation even sillier. Why did Pitch give him a dragon and a slave? What was he supposed to do with them? Stormfly had done a good job of keeping his room clean and making him food. Hell he could do those things on his own if Pitch didn’t insist that dragons were made for that job. He quickly glanced at his watch and decided that he should go to bed soon. Where were they even sleeping? He only had one bed. Sure, it was big but what if the dragon decided to kill him while he slept? Maybe he should start by explaining the rules that Pitch had set.

“We should go over some rules before we sleep,” Jack announced. He would ask Pitch later to help him find a place for the two to sleep. He tried to think about everything that Pitch had told him concerning dragons. “You know what happens if you don’t behave or if you attack somebody.” Jack felt really awful for saying this but he tried to keep a straight face. His uncle had taught him not to show weakness to those creatures. If they found your weak spot then you were most likely dead. He raised his chin and continued talking: “So you better don’t do that. Like all the other dragons you start to work at six and you end your work when I go to sleep or don’t need you anymore. You have two breaks: One around noon where you get a snack and something to drink and one around seven in the evening when you get a meal.”

Toothless interrupted him then, “Hiccup is human. You can’t possibly expect him to work so long and eat so little. He’s not gonna make it for long.” His human friend wanted to protest but the dragon shushed him before he could say anything “Okay, so you wanna be an asshole to dragons, fine be my guest but Hiccup is your equal! So why don’t you get that stupid collar of his neck and let him go?”

“I can’t do that,” Jack answered calmly. He couldn’t risk losing his composure. Pitch would kill him if he set Hiccup free.

Toothless hissed and took a step forward. His whole body language screamed aggressive and Jack did a thing he never thought he would do. He grabbed the remote faster than he thought he was able to and pushed the blue button down. Toothless was on his knees instantly and screamed bloody murder. Jack looked at the dragon who was tearing at the collar trying to get it off. He had done that. It was his doing that Toothless was in pain.

“-P IT! You’re going to kill him!” Hiccup’s voice ripped him out of his thoughts. Jack released the button even though he knew that it took a lot more to kill a dragon.

“You’re g-going to behave,” Jack said and he couldn’t help his shaky voice. Toothless was still on the floor trying to regain his breathing while Hiccup was fuzzing over him. The white haired teenager tried to swallow down the guilt but he was having a hard time to do so.

“I’m going to talk to my uncle to see where you can sleep,” Jack said “You are to stay here. Don’t leave this room.” Jack sent them one last glance before he left his room.

 

* * *

 

Jack rushed to his uncle’s study. He felt really bad about what he had done to Toothless back to in his room. The dragon was right after all. Hiccup was only human. He wouldn’t last under all the stress. Dragons were far stronger. He reached his uncle’s study fast and knocked on the door. He waited for the man to call him in and after he did, Jack entered the room.

Pitch’s study was a stylishly furnished. It was very much like him. The furniture was all in black and grey tones and there wasn’t much decoration except for a picture or two. The man looked at him when he came in and set his work aside. “What is it Jackson? Are they already giving you trouble? You know you can always give them a real punishment.”

Jack squirmed initially because he knew exactly what that meant. When a dragon really misbehaved in Pitch’s opinion then he would grasp more drastic measures. Those were often whippings or the dragons would be locked away in a small room for a few days without food or water. The boy quickly shook his head. “No eh… I was just wondering if I should set up air mattresses or something for them and I wondered how things were with Hicc- eh the human?”

Pitch now turned to him completely and raised an eyebrow “They’re animals, Jackson, they don’t need air mattresses or beds. Just tell them to sleep on the floor and what about the human.”

“What? But your servants sleep on mattresses! Why can’t mine?”

“They’re not trained yet, Jackson,” Pitch reasoned “They can sleep on something more comfortable after they learn to behave themselves. I’ll even tell Aster to set them a room up. Then you can decide how you want them to sleep after they are that far. So what about the slave?”

Jack bit his underlip. It seemed wrong to have them sleep on the floor. It was anything but comfortable… It seemed a little cruel to him… He looked up to Pitch, “Well he’s human. He can’t possibly work under the same conditions as the dragons. He’s not going to last long.”

“That’s ridiculous Jack!” Pitch exclaimed “If he throws his lot in with these dragons than he should be treated like them. I’m going to come with you and explain it to them. It’s hard to train your first servants.”

Jack quickly shook his head “There’s no need in that! I can do it myself.”

Sadly, the harm was already done. Pitch had gotten to his feet and smiled down at Jack “There is no need to be embarrassed, nephew,” he said “I am sure that you will make a fine dragon hunter one day.”

 

* * *

 

Pitch led the way to Jack’s room. When they went in, Toothless and Hiccup stood on the same spot where they had stood when Jack had left the room. That had to be some kind of progress, right? Pitch looked at them and grabbed the remote from Jack.

“I bet you think that you’re strong and powerful,” Pitch said and walked around them “You’re not. You are no match to me.” Pitch pushed down the blue and the green button on the remote. The effect was immediate. Electricity shook through Toothless and Hiccup’s bodies and made them fall on the floor. Jack tried to stop his uncle but the man held the remote out of his reach.

“They didn’t do anything wrong!” Jack called and looked at the two of them. Hiccup already had tears streaming off his face while Toothless called out to them, pleading for it to stop.

“They need to learn their place, Jackson,” Pitch said calmly. He released the buttons and smiled down at the dragon and human. “You are to sleep on the floor until you behave properly. You better be ready to work at six or I am personally going to be responsible for your punishment is that clear?”

It didn’t take long for Toothless and Hiccup to nod. They would do anything as long as they didn’t have to be in pain again. Pitch looked rather proud of himself and gave the remote back to Jack. Jack took it with shaky hands, “I’m going to sleep now,” he said barely audible but Pitch must have heard them because he wordlessly left the room.

Jack looked at the odd pair that were still covering on the floor and took his clothes to change in the bathroom. After he closed the door, he sat down on the bathtub. Why was he feeling so horrible? Those creatures were awful! If Jack was in their place they would most likely already have killed him! He needed to get it together! Those were not pets, they were monsters. They didn’t deserve any better! Pitch had told him this over and over again, so why was he doubting it now? He changed into his pyjama and brushed his teeth because he went into his room again.

“Eh… you are to sleep on the floor,” Jack said quietly and crossed the room to lie down on his comfortable, big bed. He couldn’t feel any guiltier… He turned off the lights.

Toothless wanted to grumble something but Hiccup grabbed his hand and pulled him down on the floor. He didn’t want to be in more trouble than they already were. Toothless smiled at him sadly before he lay down and opened his arms for Hiccup to slip in. That way the boy could at least be a little bit more comfortable. Hiccup quickly understood and nested himself in his best friend’s arms. In the dark, he felt comfortable enough to let the tears slip out of his eyes. Never in his life had he felt so humiliated. He wanted his normal clothes back and a comfy bed. It had been so long ago that he had slept in an actual bed… Now he was sleeping in front of some spoiled kids bed, like a pet. It was pretty much the worst day in his life. And it was only the beginning.

 

* * *

 

Hiccup was awoken by Toothless grunting. When he turned around to look at his friend, he saw that the dragon was pressing his hands against his ears. Hiccup didn’t hear a thing.

“Toothless….?” He asked worriedly. He was still sleepy and would have loved to go back to sleep even though the floor was anything but comfortable.

“You can’t hear it?” Toothless grunted. He grimaced at the painful sound that was ringing through his ears.

“It’s a wake-up call,” came a voice from the only bed in the room “Only dragons can hear it. It means that work starts.” The boy got up from his bed and turned on the lights. He looked at the duo on the floor. Toothless helped Hiccup on his feet and looked at Jack.

“What do we do?” he asked. After meeting Jack’s uncle the other day, he was anything but keen to disobey the rules. Maybe he wasn’t afraid to be punished himself but he couldn’t see Hiccup get hurt. He would do anything to avoid that from happening.

“Eh…,” Jack didn’t know what he should have them do “I’m gonna bring you down to the other dragons. You can help them until I get back to school. You can do so every day until I tell you different.”

Hiccup nodded shortly and pulled at the ends of his tunic. He felt as if they were way too short for him. They reached the mid of his tight and looked as if they had been cut unlike Toothless’ which also reached mid tight but the seam was straight. Hiccup’s tunic had probably been cut to have the same length as the others. They probably were that short so that they felt even more uncomfortable and humiliated. Jack left the room and got dressed in the bathroom. He took his time doing that and Toothless and Hiccup waited silently until he came out. He was dressed in a school uniform but his feet were still bare.

“Let’s go,” he said and took the lead. They left the room and went down the stairs. Shortly after that, Jack brought them into the room where more dragons were standing while Pitch was talking to them. There were five dragons in total. Two of them looked identical, so Hiccup assumed that they had to be twin. One of them was female while the other male. They both had the same green hair. The boy kept his open and the girl had her’s in a messy green bun. Next to them stood the dragon that had been with Hiccup and Toothless the day before. His name was Hookfang. He had short but messy fire red hair. He was strong and tall. The other two dragons were both female. One was chubby and had chin-length blond hair while the other stood tall and proud and had long blond hair that was pulled back in a braid. Pitch looked at the new arrivals and then at Jack. “Are you going to leave them here today?” he asked. Jack nodded “Until I get back from school.”

Pitch nodded and sent Toothless and Hiccup a cruel smile when Jack turned around to tie his shoes. He felt that this was going to be a lot of fun. Jack got to his feet after his shoes were in place.

“I’m going to need the remote,” Pitch held his hand out, waiting for Jack to give him the remote. The white haired boy hesitated for a moment before he pulled the little device out of his jacket. He let it fall in his uncle’s open palm. He looked at it for a moment and then at his two servants. “You do whatever he tells you to do,” Jack ordered them. Hiccup nodded quickly while Toothless turned his eyes. Lucky for him, Pitch didn’t see that.

“I’ll see you later,” Jack said and exited the room, leaving Hiccup and Toothless at Pitch’s mercy.

 


End file.
